Angels Are Watching Over You
by ChaosComix
Summary: AgeSwap!Verse Tumblr Destiel Prompt winner. The prompt was Role Reversal. Sam and Dean's ages are switched and Mary survived the fire instead of John. This will be long as this practically rewrites the whole verse. Inspired/Prompt given by: the-hound-of-sherlock on Tumblr
1. Prologue

Inspired/Prompt given by: the-hound-of-sherlock's post on Tumblr  
Dedicated to my pal Mal: wibsies on Tumblr.

_A/N: I decided to choose a Destiel prompt specifically to spite for the troll who left a "review" on my fic "The Great Ship Debate." I hadn't planned on sharing any pairing centered stories until now ("The Great Ship Debate" which was supposed to be a gag fic and not a pairing fic), but I don't react well to that kind of behavior so there you go._

_Dean will be slightly different from Canon!verse Dean due to being raised by Mary instead. Unless I can think of something brilliant, Adam won't be part of the story as Mary survives instead of John. I open to ideas though. The same applies to other pairings._

_Unbeta'd (looking for a beta)._

**Prologue: July 24th, 1983**

It's getting late, but the sun is just now slipping beyond the horizon, and Mary is tucking her oldest son Sam into bed for the night. Sam has turned four this year and his new baby brother will be having his first birthday in January. Her smile falters as she realizes she won't be around to see it. Mary shakes the thought away quickly and brushes her hand along Sam's cheek before placing a gentle kiss to his forehead. Sam must have been tired if he's already fallen fast asleep.

Just as Mary stands in the doorway and ready to turn out the light, Sam bolts upright in his bed looking petrified and inhaling a loud and heavy gasp. Mary rushes back to her son's side the second she saw tears running down the same cheeks she touched not seconds ago, "Honey? What's wrong baby?"

Sam clutches his mother tightly and makes no effort to hide his sobbing, "Don't go."

Mary tenses unsure how to respond. So many questions are running through her head. She cradles the young boy and tries to comfort and calm him down before asking about the sudden outburst. When she looks down at Sam, she sees he's already fast asleep. Then, thinking to herself, she wonders if he had been asleep the whole time. Maybe he was having a nightmare, or maybe…

"Mary!"

Turning her head in the direction of her husband's shouting, Mary carefully tucks Sam back under his covers. She takes one last look at her son before she turns out the light and exits the room.

Mary's clearly annoyed with her husband for yelling so loudly when she finally managed to put both their boys to bed, but her anger vanishes when she sees John's face.

She can't pin it down to a single emotion, but she can see fear and pain in his eyes. And that's when her eyes catch the book on the table in front of him. Her journal.

It was a stupid thing to do, she knows it was, but something deep down told her she couldn't let her father's knowledge just disappear. Mary left the hunting business when she decided to start her own family, but she full well knew that didn't mean the monsters were going to stop too. Other hunters could use the knowledge, and might save her family somewhere down the line after she's gone.

"What the hell is this, Mary?" John's voice is low and a near whisper if he's afraid of the answer.

When Mary doesn't answer, he pushes the book in her direction and repeats the question with tears threatening to break free from his eyes, "Mary, please. What is this?"

Still silence, and John pushes the book further away from himself and looks away from his wife, "Jesus. When were you going to tell me?" He looks back at Mary, the hurt written all over his face, "According to… _this_, you're-"

Mary sees the realization hit John hard. He stares at her in disbelief before he can find voice again, "You weren't going to tell me."

It wasn't a question, but Mary finds herself answering anyway, "No."

John looks down at the table in front of him and Mary knows he's doing everything he can to keep from yelling. Even if this time he has every right to be.

Mary isn't sure how much time passes, but she takes notice of the last traces of the sunset. Probably the last one she will ever see. She doesn't know she's smiling at the sight until it's wiped clear from her face when John finally speaks up.

"Take it back," John is almost whispering and Mary feels like she's imagining it, so she chooses to ignore it.

John flies out of his chair and around to Mary, pulling her into his arms, "Undo it. Take it back." He's shaking, his voice sounds so broken and it kills Mary to know she's the cause of it. But it's better this way. She's surprised that John seems to believe everything instead of pushing it all off as nonsense. Though, it would have been easier and far less complicated to think she's insane. Pulling John closer, Mary ducks her head against his shoulder trying to savor every last moment she may have with her husband.

"There's still time," John sounds desperate and to Mary's dismay John is persistent at letting the matter go. "My time was up a long time ago, Mary."

Everything from that horrible day comes flooding back. All the things she desperately tried to hide away are back and scratching at the surface. Mary wrote the whole ordeal in the journal to push those terrible memories from her mind, and it worked perfectly until now.

"You have to let me go." Mary is gripping John's shirt tightly as she sobs into his shoulder and John voice tries to soothe her.

"I can't! I don't want to lose you!" She's choking out the words as she continues crying.

John brushes the wavy, blond locks from her face and holds her chin up to meet his face, "It's going to happen either way. You _know_ that. But this is hell, Mary. Do you have any idea what that thought alone will do to me?"

She knows she's being selfish. Mary can't bear the thought of going on and living the rest of her life without John, and in doing so is putting that weight on him instead. The worst part is she knows he's right, but can she really go on without John? She's already lost so much, and she's not sure she can survive losing what little she has left.

"Mom?"

Mary and John break away enough to turn and looks at the young boy. "Mom, you okay?"

After rubbing her eyes, Mary sees concern evident in her son's. She kneels down and smiles at Sam, "Yes, Sam." The tears haven't stopped when she turns to face John and wraps her arms around her oldest. "Mommy's fine, sweetheart."

John nods and Mary looks back to Sam as she stands up, "Now hug your dad goodnight and get back in bed."

Sam walks over to John and stares at him a moment before wrapping his arms around his father's legs. John laughs and bends down and scoops. Sam up in his arms and up into the air. "Come on, Sammy. Let's get you to bed sport."

Mary smiles sadly as she watches Sam squirm in John's grip and protests to be put down while John carries him back up to his room. She sit down at the table with the journal in front of her and glances over at a photo John must have just framed recently. Something twists in her gut at the idea of that being the only photo of the whole family will have together. Then she sees one of her porcelain angels standing right beside the picture frame.

Mary's not sure if she started crying again or if she never stopped, but she opens the journal to the section on demons. She stares at it for a few minutes, and she closes her eyes and puts her elbows on the table crossing her fingers together.

She prays.

_A/Ns: Sam and Dean's birthdays are still the same, I just switched the years they were born. So Dean was born January 24__th__, 1983 and Sam was born May 2__nd__, 1979. I know I was supposed to swap their ages, but I thought changing the year they were born would be enough. _


	2. Chapter 1

_A/Ns: The beginning of this chapter was something I wanted to include in a much later chapter, but because there was some confusion I decided to include it now. I hope this helps clear things up a bit. If not, let me know what's confusing specifically._

_Reminder that this will become very AU in some places because of the changes. I also changed the date from the previous chapter. I wanted to keep the six month difference from when the story 'starts,' so I changed it from November 2__nd__ to July 24__th__ because I kept the boys birthdays the same, I just swapped the year they were born._

_ Souless666: I really want to tell you, but I will at least say that I have thought about this specific problem _A LOT_. I think I have it figured out exactly how I want it to go, so I hope it will be okay. I'm trying to avoid saying too much since it is one of the key plot points I'm going to be focusing on. Although, if you really want to know we can talk about it through PMs if you would like. I wouldn't mind another opinion on the matter._

_Warnings for this chapter: very mild torture, implied torture, minor character death  
Also, I still don't have a beta so all mistakes are my own._

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**Chapter 1: In Which Small Differences Make Big Changes**

It had been twenty-two years since that day, and no one expected what would happen next. No one except for John Winchester.

Mary had no idea that the demon filth with the unnerving yellow eyes Azael planned on visiting later that same night, so it had surprised the demon when she summoned him. Or he assumed it was Mary judging by where he had been brought to. Azazel played everything as coolly as he had when he 'persuaded' Ms. Campbell into his deal. The Devil's Trap that had been laid was clearly rushed, but the red spray paint held the demon as tightly as any other would.

Azazel's curiosity was piqued when he saw that the person who stood before him with paint covered hands was not, in fact, Mary but rather the one she had sold her soul to save. The demon's eyes looked up in the direction the nursery was only to hiss out in pain as water, undoubtedly holy water, was splashed on him.

"You should be more focused on what's going on right here demon." John was furious. He was startled at first when the summoning spell had actually worked, but the moment he saw that monster's eyes flick up to where John knew Mary and their children hid the young father saw red.

The demon's yellow eyes zeroed in on John and smirked as if uncaring to the burning from the holy water and the steam radiating from his skin, "Now, I wouldn't say that exactly."

John threw more water on the demon and he relished in the pain he managed to inflict. "Oh, I think I and the five buckets of holy water think otherwise." He never thought he would find himself enjoying torturing another living creature, but there was something about this demon that got on every one of his nerves. He couldn't place it, but he found himself not caring. This creature was a threat to his family and that was more than enough to justify his actions.

Azazel took in the new information and saw that John wasn't bluffing. Where the man managed to get that much holy water was a worrying thought. "Alright. You have my attention."

Pleased that he finally made some progress, John sets the flask of holy water and crossed his arms. "We're going to make a deal."

The demon couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the comment, "Are we now?"

"Actually, we're going to correct the one that was already made."

Azazel's eyes narrowed, but he didn't make an effort to say anything. He was curious at what the man possibly could have wanted to make a deal about, but now he knows that the human is just trying to find a way for his beloved wife to weasel out of hers.

John had leaned against the table he placed the flask on not moments earlier and a smug look swept over his face. "Now I'm no expert and I could be wrong, which I don't think I am, but I think I have the ability to null and void Mary's contract."

"Well, you'd be dead wrong." He didn't know it at the time, but Azazel's sudden hostility towards John let on more than he would have liked.

"_Dead_ wrong?" John, however, caught on immediately and Azazel sneered at John as he continued, "Either you demons are dumber than everyone makes you out to be, or your mind is on something it shouldn't be." He wasn't sure why Azazel seemed so interested in Mary, but he didn't like it at all.

Just then, John heard the loud cries of baby Dean in the nursery, and he wasn't the only one. Sure enough, the demon turned to look in the direction of the crying, "Little Dean doesn't sound happy. Maybe you should-"

His comment was cut off in a terrible scream as John threw an entire bucket of holy water upon the trapped demon. John wasn't sure how or why this monster knew Dean's name, but he knew it couldn't be good. Maybe there was more to Mary's deal than he knew about, more than what she mentioned in her notes. In any case, John was starting to think the demon was more interested in his newborn son than anyone else in this house.

After the screaming subsided, Azazel turned back to glare at John and the demon's breath was hard and labored from the yelling. John returned the look, "Listen here, _demon_," the last word drips with such venom and anger that it almost scared John. "Dean is none of your business."

"That's where you're wrong." The demon chuckled lightly then and although he was amused, the laugh was dark and caused shivers to run down John's spine. He knows he had no previous experience with these monsters but he wasn't about to give up. Mary's life, no her soul was on the line and John would do whatever it took to save her.

He was too angry to push for the meaning behind that comment and immediately started reciting the demon exorcism. The chant seemed to render the demon in pain, but Azazel still was still laughing. It was much louder now and Dean's cries grew louder from upstairs. "You think that's going to do you any good? I'll just come back, and maybe I'll use you next time. I'll come inside your house with your wife and your children and…"

Azazel's smile fell quickly and his words trailed off when he heard John start to laugh as well, "What? What are _you_ laughing at?"

After setting the book back on the table, John walked right up to the edge of the trap. "You really think I'm going to send you back without getting what I want first? Especially when I've got you right where I want you?" John grabs the book again and flipped back one page. "No. I'm just going to reread it repeatedly without actually finishing it."

As soon as the words were finished, John returned him attention to the book. Azazel's eyes grew large and before the fury that immediately followed his surprise came completely to the surface, the demon started screaming again as the John recited the scripture back from the beginning.

Mary wished she had listened to John when he told her to leave with the kids. It wasn't for her sake as much as it was for Sam and Dean's. She just couldn't leave John alone with that monster a _second_ time. Especially when she knows John's intentions of how this was going to end.

Sam was curled up tightly around Dean and sitting in Mary's lap. His arms gripped hard into the blanket covering his baby brother, but didn't help him from shaking. She could tell how much the screaming from downstairs frightened him, and the knowledge of who was doing what frightened her too. This was the last thing she wanted. She wanted to keep her family far from the hunter life, but sitting here with her two boys tucked in close and her husband downstairs convincing the demon to break the deal only showed her that her father was right. As much as she tried, there was no escaping it.

At some point the screams of pain transformed into a very heated argument from both John and the demon. Dean started crying louder the more the argument went on. It got so loud that Mary had no doubt the neighbors would be able to hear, but the thought was lost when the house suddenly fell silent followed by a loud thump. As much as Mary wanted to think otherwise, she couldn't mistake that sound for anything but someone's body hitting the floor.

Sam seemed to relax at the lack of screaming, but Mary's heart stopped and her eyes welled up. She waited for any other sound, some part of her hoped that it was the body of the demon that fell, but when a furious and almost animalistic cry flooded the house she knew her husband had succeeded.

Mary covered her mouth with one hand to hold back her sobs and held Sam's hand tightly with the other. The house had fallen silent again and even Dean's cries had started to ebb away.

John had discussed the plan with Mary ahead of time and although it was risky it was as good of a plan as they could have hoped to get. She knew if Azazel had killed John before her time was up, it would void their deal but the chances of getting that to happen was low. There was no way a demon would willingly break a deal if they could help it. The most important part of their plan was that Azazel himself had to be the one to do it. Any other monster or demon could have prevented the blame from falling on the demon, so they had to make sure to bring the demon to them. Once the demon was caught, John was to get the demon so angry that he would lose control and the moment it happened, John would break the trap.

After digging around in her old notes, Mary found a spell that could work to summon Azazel to them and a ward that would lock the demon in place. Mary set up the spell while John set up the devil trap. John spent a good hour trying to convince his wife to take the boys somewhere safe, but Mary said she wanted to be with him to the end saying everything was her fault in the first place. She didn't and never will regret her choice, but that's not what her husband needed to hear. Saying goodbye was hard, but she was at least happy she got to say them this time.

Sam squeezed his mother's hand and Mary realized she had been lost in her thoughts again. She moved to indicate they should get up, but instead of standing right away she kneeled in front of Sam who was still holding Dean in his arms, "Honey, I want you to stay here with Dean. Okay?"

The young boy sniffled once and shifted his weight, "Okay."

Mary stood up and went to the door, but stopped with her hand on the door knob when her son spoke up again. "Is dad okay?"

Her eyes went dark briefly, but when she turned to face Sam she smiled warmly to help comfort the distressed boy. "Mommy's going to be right back. I want you to lock this door as soon as I leave and I don't want you to open it for anyone but me, alright?"

Sam nodded and Mary opened the bedroom door and immediately noticed something was very wrong. The air was heavy, almost suffocating and it was warm. She spared a smile to herself when she heard Sam lock the door behind her, "Good boy."

She also noticed the lights from downstairs were different. It was dark, but there was a warm light flickering. The closer she approached the warmer and heavier the air became. When she got to the bottom of the stairs and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

No amount of planning prepared her for what she thought she was going to see. The entire kitchen was engulfed in flames, "JOHN!"

Mary ran to the kitchen only to stop at the doorway when she realized she was only in her nightgown and wouldn't provide any protection against the flames, but she still desperately looked around the kitchen hoping to find her husband. She doesn't know what made her look up, but when she did her blood ran cold regardless of the inferno blazing in front of her. John was pinned to the ceiling and it looked as if the fire was coming from him. There was no doubt in her mind that he was dead, but it was odd. He almost looked at peace.

She hoped that he was.

Almost hypnotized by the fire, she found herself staring one last time at her husband. But a sudden scream breaks the trance, "Mom!"

Mary looked over and saw the fire was rapidly spreading. The flames had already made their way to the ceiling and no doubt the top floors. "Sammy. Sammy!"

She ran to the staircase only to see fire blocking the way. Mary started to panic, was she going to lose her whole family? She thought quickly and scanned the living room and snatched up John's keys. Mary didn't even let the dull ache in her chest slow her down, she ran outside uncaring of her neighbors filing out into the streets and watching the fire. She ran around the house as fast as she could and to the shed and unlocked it.

From inside, she grabbed an old rope and a large metal wash basin from when she did laundry outside and put the keys in the basin. She quickly tied the rope twice and securely around the basin and ran towards the nursery window. She screamed out as loud as she could when she saw Sam looking terrified at the window, "Sam! Open the window!"

A part of her panicked when she saw Sam disappear from the window, but he quickly appeared again and she realized Sam was setting his brother down so he could open the window. Once the window was open, Mary threw the rope up and cursed when Sam missed it. She took a deep breath and it was as if she was on another hunt. Even with all the chaos and danger, her nerves calmed and her determination set in. She threw the rope again and let out a relieved sigh when Sam caught the rope that time.

Sam immediately began pulling up the rope and Mary was so proud of her son and how smart he was. He figured out what to do without being told and once he pulled the basin in the window immediately placed his baby brother inside.

Mary's eyes look over the house and the fire quickly spreading to the outside and closing in on the nursery's outer wall. Rather than panic, Sam focused on lowering the basin as carefully but as quickly as he could. Once the basin was in Mary's reach, she grabbed it and quickly set it down to the side and a safe distance from the house. When she returned she saw Sam looking around frantic and starting to cough from the smoke. Mary planted her feet as firmly on the mud below her as she could and held out her arms out and up towards Sam. The young boy looked unsure of what his mother was asking him to do and Mary started sending out words of encouragement. "Come on, Sam. Come on, baby. Mommy's got you." She waved her hands towards herself a few times and Sam nodded in understanding.

Mary's smile faltered when she saw Sam disappear again, but she huffed a laugh when she saw a bag thrown out the window. She heard something crash but was too focused on Sam who was already back at the window. Sam started to crawl out the window and looked over his shoulder to make sure his mother was still there. He was about to jump, but was caught off guard when the window ledge broke right from under his hands. Mary, however, reacted automatically and caught Sam just before he hit the ground. Her arms were sore, but she held him close a few moments before she set the boy down.

After taking Sam's hand, Mary walks them over to where she left Dean. When she saw the basin out in the middle of the yard, she realized that was a terrible idea. There was a demon that was furious with her family, and she left her most vulnerable son alone where anyone could have gotten to him. After inspecting Dean carefully she seemed to calm down when nothing was out of the ordinary. It didn't stop her from eyeing everyone in the crowd cautiously when the family made their way over to John's car. Paramedics came over to check Mary and the boys and Mary waved them all away. She didn't want anyone else coming near them. She lost too much already, and she wasn't taking any more chances.

Mary and Sam watched as their home blazed and all of their belongings burnt to ash. When Sam thought he saw enough he started fiddling with the bag he threw out the window before his escape. Mary stopped watching the fire to see what he son was up to, and she choked back a sob when she caught sight of some of the contents.

Sam noticed he was being watched and glanced up at his mother. "Dad told me to grab this stuff."

The bag was filled to the brim with varied items. Mary could see picture frames some of which must have broken from the fall, a few books, a few articles of clothing, but the majority of the items were baby supplies for Dean. John must have told Sam to do this when he said he put Sam to bed. As much as Mary wanted to be angry at her husband for planning with Sam behind her back, she was happy that a few things were able to be saved from the fire especially the family and wedding photo albums and most importantly… her father's journal.

**Present Day**

"Mom's on a hunting trip and she hasn't been home in a few days."

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End file.
